Parshot Aharei Mot/K’doshim
Shabbat shalom!
Please join us for our Kaballat shabbat which starts tonight at the regular time of 7:00 p.m. We invite you to join and participate and be inspired by words of Torah from Chazzan Ben-Moshe.
Shabbat morning services are this Saturday April 28 at 9 a.m. with the Torah service at 9:45; children’s story time at around 10:30 with our amazing Morah Shereen, and kiddush lunch immediately following. All are welcome! Our community is strengthened by every individual who joins us in prayer. Thank you to Javis who is kindly sponsoring the kiddush in memory of her beloved late mother’s birthday. May Ruby Lee’s memory always be for a blessing.
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:
This week we read the combined parshot of Aharei Mot/K’doshim, which begin with a description of the Yom Kippur service as it was done in the Mishkan. In fact, the first part of Aharei Mot is the Torah reading for the morning of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is of course the Day of Atonement, when we ask forgiveness for our wrongdoing. Rabbi Eli’ezer Ben Hyrcanos used to say, “Repent the day before your death.” His students asked, “How do you know what day you’ll die?” R. Eli’ezer said, “Exactly-you should repent every day.” Yom Kippur is not the only day on which we can be forgiven-every day we have that chance to mend our ways and start anew. Similarly, on Sunday we observe the day of Pesah Sheni, Second Passover, when in ancient times someone who was unable to offer the Paschal Sacrifice at the proper time could make it up. We always have chances at redemption, chances to make things right. Let us always take advantage of the the second chances given us. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
SAVE THE DATE – SUNDAY MAY 6, for a special end of year BERS party and congregational picnic at Bull Creek Park from 10-12. We will have games, family picnic, food and lots of fun. What a terrific way to end our lovely Sunday school program for the year. All are welcome.
Shabbat candle lighting times are at 7:48 p.m.
Huge thank you to Shereen and Cantor Ben-Moshe and our dream team of educators at Sunday school – Iris D, Maya, Hadar and Anat who helped bring our WHOLE SUNDAY school to the community wide celebration at the J last Sunday. The Chai Mitzvah Teens did a fantastic job on the face painting and we all enjoyed celebrating Israel at 70 with Shalom Austin.
Sunday Funday this Sunday April 29 at 10 a.m.
Join the Beth El sisterhood at the home of Doris on May 15 at 7pm.
Let us know if you need a ride. And join us even if you haven’t read the book as these get togethers are so inspiring and fun. Bring a healthy nosh to share.
Congregation Beth El has for the past few years been a part of Austin shomrim, a group of men and women who help in this amazing mitzvah when someone in the community has passed away. We could use some more volunteers to help this community wide organization. Please email us for more details. Go to the following link to sign up:
In order to start using the new, improved website, all Austin Shmirah members must sign up. PLEASE DON’T SKIP ANY STEPS!
1. Go to https://chevrah.org/
,
Click NEW SIGNUP? REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT, and fill it out. You may choose a very simple password. Click REGISTER NOW
2. HOME page: EDIT PROFILE.
CHECK/FILL IN ALL ITEMS WITH ASTERISKS (use dropdown menus), plus anything else you’d like to add.
Click SUBMIT at bottom of page
3. TO BECOME A SHOMER: Go back to HOME page
Click JOIN A TEAM. For EACH INDIVIDUAL congregation you want to serve, click JOIN SHMIRAH, then read that congregation’s requirements. To get on their shmirah coordinator’s mailing list, AGREE/SIGN UP. If you don’t meet the requirements or changed your mind, CLOSE. Repeat for all congregations you want to serve.
4. EVERYONE: CLICK “JOIN SHMIRAH” in the row for MAILING LIST FOR ALL AUSTIN MEMBERS. This puts you on Gail Tosto’s general mailing list.
Rabbi Peter Tarlow’s Weekly Parasha:
This week we read a double parashah, Acharei-Mot (Levitcus 16:1-18:30) and Kdoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27). Often the names of these weekly Torah sections tell us a great deal about the Biblical view on life and provide us with great insights. Acharei-Mot means “After the deaths of…” In the previous sections, we read about deaths caused by the plague of tzara’at and about Aaron’s sons’ deaths. The reader can imagine that many asked where was G’d. In this week’s sections we receive at least a partial answer. The Torah teaches us that Acharei-Mot, after death, G’d reminded us that we are to define live on the level of the sacred; on the scale of holiness. In other words, in the face of death, be holy; in the face of death, chose life
Certainly no people knows this lesson better than we, the Jewish people do. Less than 100 years ago, we were a broken people. On that dark-continent called Europe, we suffered the indescribable anguish of the Holocaust. Europe offered no refuge anywhere. Europe, after some 2,000 years of prejudice, simply had no place for Jewish life, and so in its final act of barbarity, it sought to eliminate its “Jewish problem.” After the orgy of murders, we were a broken people. Yet the the bent tree we call Jewish life once again found rebirth of modern Israel. Despite the fact Israel stills suffers from European prejudices modern Israel is a vibrant and strong democracy.
As we read these two sections we go on a spiritual journey. On this journey the Torah reminds us that survival is more than merely the physical; it is also the spiritual. This spiritual journey must be on both the personal and national levels. Each of us is obligated to teach the world that prejudice and hatred must be conquered and that all human beings are made in the image of G-d. Being holy is not merely living in the here and now, but with respect for the past and with a sense of futurity and hope. To be holy is both to have
faith and to practice it.
The opposite of holiness is secularism; it is a flight into fantasy. It is the belief that whatever one does is ok, that one lives only for oneself, and that what really counts is the celebration of the “I”. To be holy is to do for others, to realize that our actions matter and that no group, community or nation can survive merely by the selfish despair that comes from inward thinking.
These two sections teach us that how we live, how we choose to make our lives holy, and how we treat others form the building blocks of faith and the basis of optimism. What do you think?